Our Canvas Family Rules!

 Figure out how big of a canvas you want. That's going to determine how many family rules your family needs to come up with. The first canvas I bought wasn't big enough.  I ended up buying a 24"x30" wrapped canvas.

 We gathered around the dining room table and decided on obvious and some funny rules that everyone could agree on. As the kids get older I can get smaller canvases and do some "add-ons".

I picked up some double sided specialty scrapbook paper I liked. The double sided paper is thicker and makes it easier to modge podge without having to deal with a bunch of wrinkles once the paper gets wet from gluing. Picking the different patterns out was the hardest. I ended up going with dots. Small, medium and large dots with a full page of a star pattern with the huge E.

I cut the scrapbooking paper into 2"x12" strips. Then I used my cricut to cut out the letters using the Don Juan cartridge and made them 1 1/2". You can use pretty much anything to glue the letters to the paper. I used a xyron machine, but really anything will work....even the modge podge you'll be using later. ( you could use stickers, stencils, etc for the letters as well)

 

After I got all the letters glued onto the paper I played around for what seemed like forever and finally figured out what ordered I wanted the rules to go. 

 I glued down the largest piece first which is the 12x12 paper with the large E. Then one by one I put modge podge on the back of each of the rules a foam brush.

After all the rules were glued on I did 4 layers of  matte modge podge over the front of the canvas. I did 2 layers and waited a couple of hours before finishing with the final 2 layers. I covered every nook and cranny. The paper bubbled up a little here and there, but in the end it just gives it more character. I took a black ink pad and inked all around the edges of the canvas so it wouldn't be stark white. I then let it dry completely overnight and hung it up in the kitchen.

Just remember that is no right or wrong way to make this project. You can add anything to it and make it completely yours. Most importantly have fun!

Here is our finished project!

I  love it!

Supplies Needed:

• Wrapped Stretched Canvas
• Letters (cricut, stencils, stickets, handwritten, painted, endless possibilities)
• Adhesive for letters
• 12x12 double sided scrapbook paper
• Matte Modge Podge
• Foam brush
• Paper Trimmer
• Black Ink Pad

If you have any questions just let me know.

4-H Project Melted Crayon Wall Art

Nothing like waiting until the last minute and Jadyn needing some ideas to do a visual arts project for the 4-H fair. I hit up Pinterest and found the following idea.

 1. Remove the paper from each of the crayons you plan to use. Jadyn picked purple, pink, light green and blue for her colors. You can pick as many or as few as you'd like. There is no right or wrong number.

 2. Grate each crayon. (Jadyn and I talked about it and decided that when we do this again we'll try a pencil sharpener instead of a grater) Some bigger chunks of crayon are ok.

 3. Figure out what design you'd like to do. (We did this before anything else) Jadyn decided to go with diagonal lines. Next time we're thinking about trying a sun.

 4. Once you have the crayon shavings arranged the way you want cover the entire canvas with wax paper  **wax side down.** 

 

 5.  Use a low temp on your iron and press the canvas. Start by gently pressing the iron up and down instead of back and forth. The wax will melt VERY quickly. Once you do the entire canvas it will look all melted. Wait a couple of minutes and then gently peel the wax paper off your art.

 

 6. You're project is complete.....well maybe.

 7. We picked up a solid 5/8" satin ribbon and a polka dot 3/8" grosgrain ribbon and white thumbtacks to pretty up the border. Jadyn overlapped the ribbon and we used the polka dots as the guide to determine where the thumbstacks should go to secure the ribbon. Just pick any color ribbons and thumbtacks that match your project.

 8. Finish the ends of the ribbon off by folding over the end section of the ribbon and placing it over the starting end. Use a thumbtack to secure it into place.

 

 Here is what the finished edges will look like (On our way to drop off the project at the fair)

 

 Do you see the Blue Ribbon??????? 

Now we need to come up with new ideas for next year!

Supplies Needed:

• Stretched Wrapped Canvas
• Crayons
• Cheese Grater or Pencil Sharpener
• Wax Paper
• Iron
• Optional: Ribbon & Thumbtacks 

If you have any questions just let me know. 

A Day Behind...

I've been a day all week. I still remember that Tuesday and Thursday Ryanne has preschool and that Thursday was a 1/2 day of school. If you had asked me though I would have told you that Tuesday was Wednesday, Wednesday was Thursday etc. This makes for some pretty interested conversations.

Then again I am really behind of everything right now. Laundry is piling up, general clean up is piling up.... Those 2 things never really end around here though.

I can admit I was wrong

I had it in my head that getting a new puppy would make everything all better. I was wrong.

Last Sunday I went to a local rescue's meet & greet. All the dogs they had that were available to be adopted were there. I came across the sweetest 12 week old lab/hound mix. He was perfect. I filled out the application to adopt him and got the call Monday that I was approved and could come and pick him up.

Tuesday was the day. I dropped Ryanne off at preschool and headed over to pick the little guy up. I was so excited. It didn't last long.

This puppy was potty trained, crate trained, well mannered, fun and didn't bother Greyson too much. Isis took a liking to him...the cats would have killed him if they could have figured out how. They were less than thrilled with the barking puppy we let invade their house.

Wednesday morning I woke up with a knot in my stomach. Just thinking about the puppy possibly chewing the new furniture, the responsibility, the not being about to leave the house for more than a couple hours at a time got to me in the worst way. Really I was having a huge ass panic attack regarding the cutest, well behaved puppy.

Thursday I called Kolin at work and asked him if he would hate me if returned the puppy. I just couldn't do it. He came home real quick on his way out of town and I just cried. My heart is broken and even though I know we can't have Chief back, that's really what I want.

I emailed the rescue and told them that it just wasn't working out for us. Nothing on the puppy's part...I couldn't have asked for a better puppy for our house. It was all on me.

I dropped him off Saturday afternoon. I told him I was sorry, I just wasn't ready. I don't know if I ever will be. I do know that for now it was way way way too soon.

The kids handled it a lot better than I thought they would. Karis was the most upset saying that we need 2 dogs. I told her right now we only need one and that special dog is Isis.

I'm certifiably crazy!

The last couple days I've been looking for that 'special' puppy. I can't tell you how many times in the last 6 months that Kolin has been heard muttering around the house "no replacement animals" "There will be NO replacement animals!"

I think we've talked ourselves into another, but it's got to the the RIGHT one. It just can't be the first puppy we see that needs a new home.... With summer coming, we'll have less running and more time to acclimate a puppy to our house.

I was checking out petfinder and found this 'little' guy.   He's a St. Bernard/Australian Shepherd mix. Just look at his paws!!!!!

Tinkle Tinkle, Little Bat

(To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Tinkle, tinkle, little bat

Wonders where the potty's at.

Straight ahead or to the right?

Caves are very dark at night.

Little bat, why do you frown?

Did you tinkle upside down?

Karis is learning this song for school. Her class will be singing it to the office staff on Friday. 

I smile and laugh every time she sings it.

Girl Scout Cookies

Karis is 6 and it's her first year in Girl Scouts. This year she is a Daisy. We started taking orders for cookies on January 2nd. The cookies sale was supposed to be over on March 18th, but council extended it until April 8th. I decided to send a case of assorted cookies to work with Kolin to sell. I would replenish as he needed them and then I had 3-4 cases of cookies in the back of my vehicle to sell. I got the car window paint and advertised.  I didn't know how we'll we'd do but surprisingly we've sold around 200 boxes this way with basically no effort at all.

We've had people stop us and ask for cookies while filling up for gas. We've had people write notes and leave them on the windshield asking us to call them and we've had people pull up right beside us at a 4-way stop to ask for...you guessed it cookies. 

I'm not sure what her final count is at this point. As soon as all the booth time she has put in is tallied we'll have a final number.

Karis and I are already looking forward to next year. I'm going to make up some 'business cards' to hand out to everyone who stops for cookies so they can call when they need more.